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letic facilities and how impressed I was with everything. Just seeing their weight room, their position rooms, all of that stuff. I remember being really impressed with their football building. I went and saw a lot of schools, too. I took a lot of visits. Their player lounge and all the updates they've made in there are outstanding. So that's some- thing I really took away from the Lasch Bash. I also just remember being up there in State College and seeing the whole area. Everyone supports the football program. It's a big deal. Everyone at the college and in town wants to see us play. I like that atmosphere. But I also liked hang- ing out with the guys. I knew Nick Dawkins from Rivals camp, but getting to hang out with him that day was fun. I wasn't committed then, but he knew I had a lot of interest in them, so we talked about everything. He introduced me to a bunch of other guys. BWI I thought there was a possibility that you would commit that weekend. What did you talk to the coaching sta0 about? Did they want to see some of your /lm from the beginning of the sea- son /rst? WILLOCK I was supposed to camp at Penn State the day before the Lasch Bash, but I couldn't make it. I was visit- ing and camping at Georgia two days be- fore [July 25] and just didn't get back home in time to camp at Penn State. So they decided that they wanted to see my /rst couple of games. Honestly, I came up to Penn State looking kind of sloppy. I had some extra weight on me at the time, so we talked about looking at my /lm from the /rst three games and then going from there. Originally, the plan was for me to ball out through Sept. 21 and then see where I stand, but after sending them my film from the first game, I heard from basically their whole staff. They were all saying that they were really impressed. They said they really no- ticed the work I put in and the changes I made to my body during camp. I really felt that way, too. I've never been more motivated in my life to work as hard as I did during camp. So when they ended up officially offering me after seeing my film from my first game, it meant a lot. I haven't stopped working though. I feel like I'm improving more this sea- son. BWI What are some of your strengths and weaknesses? What do you really excel at, and what are you still trying to improve on before you get to Penn State? WILLOCK Well, I still have a lot to im- prove on. I need to improve on every- thing, so I don't really have what I would consider a true strength. Going into the season, I would have said that one of my weaknesses was my pass set. It just doesn't come very natural for me. I've always been better at driving guys down/eld. But for my /rst couple games this year, I've actually been pretty good in passing sets. Switching from right tackle to le1 tackle has helped me with that. I'm feeling more comfortable in passing sets than I ever did before, but still, I need to work on it and get better. I need to get better with everything. I'm also working hard to /nish my blocks. I get a good /rst push, but I'm working to stick with guys longer on a more consistent basis. BWI You mentioned Nick Dawkins ear- lier as a player you've gotten to know. Have you become friendly with any of the other committed players over the past few weeks? WILLOCK I haven't been able to talk to too many of them yet. I talk to Nick, and I started talking to Amin Vanover since he's a Jersey guy. We actually play each other later this season. So we spar a little bit about that, but I've just been getting to know him a little bit. I know that I'm going to come up there for more visits, so I'm looking forward to getting to know some of the other guys. BWI Any idea on what you want to major in? Also, how important was a Penn State education in making this de- cision? WILLOCK That was very important. No doubt. Just knowing that you're going to go to a school that will give you a great education and a great degree is huge for me and my family. We know it's going to mean something when football comes to an end. I know I'm going to study either architectural or civil engineering. I haven't decided which one yet, but I know that Penn State is one of the best schools for that. BWI To /nish, I want to give you an op- portunity to say something to Penn State fans. It can be anything that comes to mind. Is there anything you would like to say to all the Nittany Lion fans reading this? WILLOCK I would just say that I haven't reached my full potential yet. I'm far from a /nished project. I'm working harder than I ever have before. I put in a lot of work this o0-season and during camp. I'm really working hard to show people that I'm a new player. I'm more motivated than I've ever been before and I'm excited to reach my potential at Penn State. ■

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